“I love using stories to share my days and let everyone see the inside of my life and how I spend my time when I have so much going on all the time.”

The chance to connect with new people has been great for Elaine.

“I love the way blogging lets you meet and talk to so many different people from all walks of life from all over the world. It has a great sense of community that, I find for me, travels from my blog to my Instagram.”

Elaine has found that blogging has opened up a new support network when her family needs advice on the running of a farm, as well providing the opportunity to share advice of her own.

“It has given me the confidence to write what I feel and be ok with sharing it with the world. It has given me opportunities to attend events, learn new skills and make some really good friends along the way. For farm life, it has given us a wide support network of people we can call on if we need advice.”

“I am a total addict. I would hardly have an hour in the day when I wouldn’t either be on Instagram or Twitter, except when I am in work or those days when life takes over.”

Elaine says she finds it difficult sometimes to balance her blog with her life.

“One thing that has been difficult is not letting life get in the way of the blog. Life has a way of taking your time away from things that aren’t your main work which kills me. If I could I would love to blog or write full-time, but at the moment that isn’t an option.

“Another challenge is the comparison trap you can fall into of comparing yourself to others - ‘why aren’t my followers growing’, ‘why is my blog not as popular’ and the feeling of ‘maybe I should just give it all up’ - that can be very hard.”